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Featuring a multi-disciplinary approach–and chapters written by outstanding scholars known for their expertise in the areas they discuss–The Development of Language focuses on language acquisition throughout the lifespan, with new coverage of linguistic achievements in the first year of life and through the middle school years. It examines what we know about language development using biological, social, and cultural contexts, while also investigating individual differences, atypical development, literacy, and language development in adults. Each chapter is written by world-renowned scholars and cutting-edge researchers, and each chapter provides a helpful summary, list of key words, a comprehensive text glossary explaining each term, and extensive links to video resources that help bring the concepts to clarity, through examples of child communication behaviors, insights into how research into child language is conducted, and first person interviews with influential researchers in the field.

The new edition emphasizes language development in children who are learning languages other than English or are bilingual and includes new information about children with risk factors for language delay or disorder. Within each topical area, such as speech production, vocabulary, syntax, pragmatics, and literacy, the authors integrate discussion of potential problems or differences in how children learn the various aspects of language. Cultural influences that lead to group and individual variation in children’s language environments and profiles of language development are addressed throughout. The Enhanced Pearson eText features embedded videos.

Engaging. The new interactive, multimedia learning features were developed by the authors and other subject-matter experts to deepen and enrich the learning experience.

Convenient. Enjoy instant online access from your computer or download the Pearson eText App to read on or offline on your iPad® and Android® tablet.*

Affordable. The Enhanced Pearson eText may be purchased stand-alone for 50-60% less than a print bound book.

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Jean Berko Gleason, PhD. is one of the world’s leading experts on children’s language and one of the founding mothers of the field of psycholinguistics. She created the famous “Wug Test”, which reveals how children learn the rules of language, such as how to make singular words plural. Her current work investigates parents’ speech and the interactive nature of language acquisition. She is the author of leading textbooks in her field and many influential studies of aphasia, language development, gender differences in language, and language in the Roma community in Hungary.

Dr. Berko Gleason is Professor Emerita in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Boston University. A member of the Academy of Aphasia, she is past president of the International Association for the Study of Child Language and of the Gypsy Lore Society, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Her classic work in child language development is frequently cited in the professional literature and featured in the popular media. She is a featured scientist in the award-winning PBS online Nova Science Now series The Secret Life of Scientists.

Nan Bernstein Ratner, Ed.D., C.C.C. is Professor, Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland at College Park and participating faculty in the Maryland Language Sciences Center and Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Neuroscience, and a Board-Recognized Specialist in Child Language and Language Disorders. Dr. Bernstein Ratner is the editor of numerous volumes, and author of numerous chapters and articles addressing language acquisition and fluency in children. Many of her research reports can be found in the Journal of Speech and Hearing Research and other major journals, with chapters in major texts on child speech and language development. With Jean Berko Gleason, Dr. Bernstein Ratner is the author of the text Psycholinguistics as well as prior editions of The Development of Language. In 2014, Dr. Bernstein Ratner received the Honors of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association; she was made a Psychology Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2015.

1 THE DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGE: An Overview and a Preview 1

Jean Berko Gleason, Boston University

An Overview of the Course of Language Development 2

Communication Development in Infancy 2

Phonological Development: Learning Sounds and Sound Patterns 2

Semantic Development: Learning the Meanings of Words 2

Putting Words Together: Morphology and Syntax in the

Preschool Years 3

Language in Social Contexts: Development of Communicative Competence 3

Theoretical Approaches to Language Acquisition 4

Variation in Language Development: Implications for Research and Theory 4